The subject matter of this invention relates to an oxy-fuel burner than enables rapid release of combustion energy.
Oxy-fuel burners are used in a wide range of applications. In one application, oxy-fuel burners are employed for melting scrap within a furnace (e.g., in connection with aluminum recycling). In some applications, the charging practice for introducing scrap into the furnace causes the metal to be located relatively close to the face of the burner. When conventional oxy-fuel burner technologies are used, the flame can form a cavity through the scrap, resulting in inefficient heat transfer to the scrap and high flue gas temperatures. In another application, oxy-fuel burners are used in single-pass furnaces where any heat not transferred quickly can be lost out the flue. In yet another application, oxy-fuel burners are fired along the width of a furnace having a large aspect ratio (i.e., length much greater than width), such as shaft furnaces and cupolas, where rapid transfer of combustion heat would significantly improve efficiency of the furnace.
Conventional oxy-fuel burners and methods for using burners for entraining furnace gas into the combustion zone are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,503 B2 and US Pub. No. 2007/0254251 A1, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Another conventional burner known as a “pipe-in-pipe” burner is disclosed in FIG. 21.4 of section 21.4.1 of the Industrial Burners Handbook, CRC Press 2004. There is a need in this art for a burner and method that has an enhanced rate of uniform heat release to improve heat transfer efficiency to the furnace and reduce flue gas temperatures.